In this guise, the National President of Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG). Mr. Sulaimon Yusuf, opined that it is only government’s intervention in the real estate sector that can crash the price of housing in the country. He said that what contributes to increase the cost of housing in the country is the procurement of land, provision of infrastructures and the likes.

According to him, “the work of Federal Housing Authority (FHA) is to provide houses. You can see what the Ministry is doing, giving land to consultants to build houses in all the states of the federation. These are the impacts that we feel, safe for those states who have not been able to give land to federal government, houses are not built there. So, now, when you look at the performance, you say okay, for those states that have provided land, they were able to provide houses through Private Partnerships Projects (PPP).

In that regard, state governments should be able to provide the land for housing construction in addition to provision of infrastructure in such areas. Lamenting the dearth of data, Yusuf said that Nigeria does not know the number of housing deficit in the country to be able to bridge the gap.

“First and foremost, we have problem of data.

You see, for us to say we have shortfall in shelter, there must be adequate data in terms of how many are we? Then, what is the stratum of that population, where are this population? From there, you can now determine the actual deficiency that we have. But what we now have is people on their own crazy to buy land.

Even the estate developers, what they do is looking for land especially in Lagos here because I know the rate at which they are building in Lagos is not the same at which they build in Ibadan, in Akure and other city centers or Abeokuta.

“The rate differs. This is because we have special case in Lagos. Everything is profitable in Lagos and so people see housing as one of the  profitable ventures. They knew that if they put it down, people will buy and this is why you see people building all over the places. The estate developers, everybody are just running up here and there building houses, selling them and making money. If you want to make a quick one, you go to real estate. That is why you see all of them making money from all sources and bringing them to build houses and make money.

Go to Lekki corridor you will imagine yourself whether, with all these houses why are we still having housing deficits? They are not building room and parlor, they are building duplexes, flats. Those people that are building houses are not that category of people.

One of the Chief Executive Officer of a Real Estates Company in Lagos State has lamented the current cost of labour and building materials triggered by removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government, saying it is affecting the cost of housing units in the country.

He disclosed this to newsmen in Lagos, he revealed that the cost of labour and building materials have skyrocketed, saying he has been working around his finances and work ethics without compromising standards.

He said: “within the estate, we do some basic things by ourselves. Let me let you know that the cost of labour has also gone up. A mason or carpenter now collects N7,000 instead N3,500. We have to go back to the drawing board to look at our operation, then scale it down so that we will be picking it gradually.

We are not stopping work, we are progressing but our activities are based on scale of preference. ”Due to these challenges, he said, the prices of the housing units have been affected, adding that the increase in price is tied to the present economic challenges.

“Housing units’ prices ranged from N55 million for outright purchase. The same unit can’t go for that in the next 12 months. When we started, the price was N48 million. The fuel subsidy removal is affecting our bottom line if you look at it very well,” he said.

He disclosed the 2025 deadline for the delivery of all the housing units, pointing out that, one uniqueness about the estate was that, immediately you subscribed and made payment, subscribers got all their documents immediately.

He added that lack of transparency in the area of documentation remains one of the reasons Nigerians in Diaspora are wary of investing in housing back home.

“Documentation is the most common thing that is really a hindrance to people living abroad from investing in real estate back home. For people living abroad, there is this kind of distorted information, process that you have to get this, you have to buy this, and at the end of the day after paying for some certain documents, developers would still go back to them that they still need to pay for one kind of document that does not really exists.

“I am a Nigerian and I live in Canada, I have witnessed how things are done over there in Canada, South Africa and other parts of the world. I am also bringing this to Nigeria, he said.

The International Human Rights Commission recently disclosed that over 28 million Nigerians lack access to decent and affordable housing. This has been collaborated by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, which claimed the country has a 28 million housing gap, requiring N21tn to close the gap.

Different reasons have been adduced for the country’s huge housing deficit, ranging from a ballooning population, lack of an effective mortgage system to poverty. Poor funding, high construction costs, accelerating inflation, and poor housing policies have also been identified as factors that have stifled real growth.

Despite the challenges bedevilling the sector, experts have argued that housing could be used as a catalyst for the country’s economic development. So, as the country moves towards May 29, when the President-elect, Senator Bola Tinubu, would take over the rein of power, stakeholders have highlighted critical areas the new government has to focus on to harness the economic potential of the real estate sector.

The Chief Executive Officer, Housing Development Advocacy Network, Festus Adebayo, said housing was crucial for the growth of the economy.

According to him, one area the President Buhari-led administration has failed is in the provision of affordable housing.

He lamented that housing was not among the top five priorities of the government, despite being a critical index in measuring economic growth in developed countries, adding that housing should not just be a political strategy.

He said, “In the manifesto of All Progressives Congress under Buhari’s government, 1 million houses were promised but the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing has only built less than 10,000 housing units in eight years. However, the Federal Housing Authority, Family Homes Fund Limited, and Federal Mortgage Bank have also built some number of houses, with Family Homes Fund Limited alone building over 15,000 units across several states.”

Adebayo maintained that the government should avoid directly building housing and instead work with reputable developers to promote professionalism in the real estate sector through regulation.

He added, “The United States is investing $73bn in affordable housing, which is over N53tn, about five times the budget of Nigeria. It shows how important affordable housing is to them.

“The incoming government should learn from what the United States is doing to house its citizens.”

Housing industry professionals have been canvassing the establishment of a Ministry of Housing, which will focus on developing and implementing policies aimed at providing affordable housing.

The Executive Secretary of the Association of Housing Corporations of Nigeria, Toye Eniola, said housing required reasonable concentration to bring about the desired change.

He said, “At this point, separation seems to be the best option. Housing is a large department and requires serious attention. Merging it with the Ministry of Works has not produced the best results. In the last four years, the concentration was only on roads with little on housing. If the ministry is standing alone, it will give reasonable concentration on activities that will

improve the sector.”

In the same vein, the Chief Executive Officer of Eximia Realty Company, Hakeem Ogunniran, argued that Nigeria needed a ministry that would focus mainly on housing.

He said, “This will help with driving housing policies, particularly in relation to the stakeholders in the ecosystem. And the kind of minister we need is an individual who understands the interplay of housing and the economy.

“In addition, we need a housing minister who understands partnership with the private sector because the strength of housing is in the private sector. It is just that the government has not fashioned a framework to leverage this strength.”

President-elect Bola Tinubu disclosed plans in his “Renewed Hope” manifesto to merge the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing Company, and Family Homes Fund Limited, to enable function as a single agency, which will provide low interest rate mortgages, guarantee qualified mortgages and purchase mortgages from private banks.

 The Chairman of the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria, Samson Opaluwah, described the merger as a step in the right direction if the pooling of funds will simply provide capital to meet housing demand.

He further stated that the legal framework establishing the institutions must be looked into, amended, reworked, or repealed to suit the public interest in housing.

He said, “If the idea is to have a larger pool of funds to support the real estate industry and enhance accessibility by Nigerians that is commendable. However, I am not certain that the move will result in the provision of more homes for Nigerians.”

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of Housing Development Advocacy Network, Festus Adebayo, kicked against the merger of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Family Homes Funds, and Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing Company, saying it was a wrong move as these companies were established for different purposes under separate ministries.

He said, “50 per cent shareholding in NMRC belongs to private sector investors, and a merger would lead to litigation.  The process of merging them, which will take a long time, can be used to re-strengthen and restructure them for better efficiency.”

About 271 building collapses have been recorded in the past 10 years, leading to the death of at least 531 persons. The frequency of building collapse in the country has been a source of concern to industry players.

Many factors have been attributed to the frequent collapses in the country. Some of them are professional ineptitude ranging from excessive loading, use of substandard materials, faulty design, poor workmanship, and weak foundation.

The President of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild, Sulaiman Yusuf, told our correspondent that there was an urgent need for the passage of the National Building Code.

He said, “The code has been at the National Assembly’s level for years, and that is the instrument that will ensure orderliness and standardisation of the construction process in the sector. Until there is the passage of the NBC into law, we are not ready nationally.

“At the state level, the state government should endeavour to domesticate the code. If it is domesticated, they will be able to fund the operations by setting up the appropriate building structures and ensure that the administrative sector performs adequately,” he explained.

According to Yusuf, there is a need for proper planning of settlements through the urban and regional planning law, claiming that most of the states of the federation have yet to domesticate the law in their state.

“The incoming government must learn to merge the economic plan with the physical development plan. In addition, there is a need for the proper monitoring of the kind of building materials that come into the country and those manufactured within the country, because building material qualities are getting lower by the day,” he remarked.

The Co-founder of Dukiya Investment Ltd, Lukman Shobawale, noted that the housing challenge had been exacerbated by a lack of access to mortgage and consumer credit, low incentives low private investors’ involvement, etc.

He urged, “On the housing front, in addition to some of the earlier policy commitments, the incoming government must note that the housing sector must be on the front burner because according to his manifesto, home ownership is a source of prosperity, social stability, and individual pride. A vibrant residential construction industry is essential to a healthy modern economy.

“Hence, in addition to the points on mortgage and optimising the Land Use Act, Tinubu’s presidency must boost private sector participation through incentives such as tax concessions, and provide the infrastructure that can support investment in the sector.”

According to him, real estate has the potential for long-term economic sustainability but needs investment and reforms to increase government revenue via land-based taxes and widen the tax net.

The National President of the Nigerian Institute of Building, Prof. Yohana Izam, stressed the need for the restructuring of the housing sector.

He said, “A one-stop-shop would provide solutions to all challenges facing the industry. Right now, we do not know who is doing what. We have several housing bodies that are numerous and out of unison. We should go back to the days of housing corporations as a one-stop-shop. Under this corporation, there would be departments for all kinds of housing issues, including housing finance issues so that the bilateral leakages can robustly be interrogated.”

Izam noted that this would aid the proper utilisation of fair reviews and effective delivery of housing.

He added, “This corporation can become a permanent feature for housing and the implementation of housing policies. This would also aid in long-term housing funding projects with the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, among others, to bridge the affordability gap.

The NIOB president argued that the millions of housing deficit backed the information that there was no coordinated industry to address the gap.

“It is possible for a corporation to establish and implement unified standards, qualities, and policies with the cooperation of architects, engineers, builders, physical planners, and other relevant parties. By working together, they can set a benchmark that can be adopted by the entire country.”

With May 29 just around the corner, many Nigerians are anxiously awaiting for the Tinubu-led government’s adoption of recommended measures from stakeholders to propel the housing industry and capitalise on its capacity for economic progress.